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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28845708">Three Little Words</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/fmpsimon/pseuds/fmpsimon'>fmpsimon</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Ookiku Furikabutte | Big Windup!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Awkward Conversations, First Love, Fluff, Light Angst, Love Confessions, M/M, Misunderstandings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 03:47:11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,504</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28845708</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/fmpsimon/pseuds/fmpsimon</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Abe has waited a long time to confess to Mihashi, but when he finally does, it doesn’t turn out quite like he expected.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Abe Takaya/Mihashi Ren</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>54</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Three Little Words</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>                What was he doing here? He had wanted to say something—maybe even <em>do </em>something—but now that he was sitting here, mere inches from Mihashi, it seemed as though there wasn’t a thought in his head. Abe had insisted that Mihashi wait for him after school, and then after practice, and now…here they were, sitting on the bench, staring at the empty field before them, as the sun painted the sky orange and red. Abe pressed his palms into the cold, metal, splaying his fingers. He glanced sidelong at Mihashi; he looked nervous, chewing on his lip, clenching his fists.</p><p>                Graduation was coming up. Just thinking about that made Abe feel sick to his stomach. It meant starting over at a new school, new friends, new challenges, leaving old friends behind. When he had started high school, he’d never believed he would become so attached to his team—especially after his experience in middle school with a pitcher who he’d grown to deeply resent. But that was in the past—Haruna was in the past. But—he glanced at Mihashi again—there were certain people he didn’t want to become part of his past.</p><p>                Mihashi had been scouted by a big university, famous for its sports programs, particularly baseball. He deserved it—he was an amazing pitcher. Abe had been scouted too—but by a different university. He had considered himself lucky to get the offer and had accepted it right away. It was only now that he was counting down the days until graduation that he was beginning to regret his hasty decision.</p><p>                “Um, Takaya?” Mihashi smiled weakly. “Wasn’t there…something you wanted to say?”</p><p>                Abe looked at him. There were a thousand things he wanted to say, but he couldn’t find the words. “You know we’re graduating soon….”</p><p>                “Uh-huh,” Mihashi nodded quickly.</p><p>                “And we aren’t gonna be able to play on the same team anymore, so…we won’t really see much of each other,” Abe continued. He leaned forward a little, clenching his fists. Shit, his hands felt clammy.</p><p>                “Oh. Yeah.” Mihashi hunched his shoulders a little, lowering his head just enough that his hat covered his eyes.</p><p>                “So, I—um…so I wanted to….” <em>Shit</em>. He wasn’t normally the one who stuttered like this. He was usually level-headed (mostly) and never had any issues expressing himself, a trait that often got him into trouble.</p><p>                “Takaya…what is it?” Mihashi said, suddenly turning and facing him.</p><p>                Abe just blinked at him for a moment. “Uh…I mean….” Mihashi just stared back, biting his lower lip. “Shit—here!” Abe grabbed his hand. He gaped at their hands: Mihashi’s was cold. “Why is your hand so cold? Are you anxious?”</p><p>                “W-well, um, I—it’s just,” Mihashi sputtered. Then he stopped and squeezed Abe’s hand, his eyes fixed there for a moment, before he met Abe’s gaze. “Your hand is cold too! Takaya—<em>your </em>hand is cold <em>too</em>!” The corners of his mouth twitched. “That means <em>you’re</em> anxious!”</p><p>                Abe’s first instinct was to deny it. “Me? Anxious? About what?” It turned out he didn’t have the heart to keep it up, and a sigh escaped his lips. “I thought that much would’ve been pretty obvious.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “There’s something I want to tell you.”</p><p>                Mihashi nodded again, quick and jittery. “Okay.”</p><p>                Abe took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, tightening his grip around Mihashi’s hand. “Would it…make you uncomfortable if I…said I liked you?” Abe said cautiously.</p><p>                Mihashi’s brow wrinkled. “You’ve told me that already. When we first met—don’t you remember?”</p><p>                “That’s not what I mean.” Abe moved his fingers suddenly, entwining them with Mihashi’s. “I…<em>like</em> you, Ren.”</p><p>                Mihashi was silent for a moment, just opening and closing his mouth like a fish. Abe grit his teeth. That was the response he had expected, but not the one he’d wanted. So, what did it mean? Had Abe read too much into things? Had he assumed Mihashi had romantic feelings for him when they were only platonic? <em>Shit</em>. Well, it was probably a good thing there wasn’t much time left before graduation; there would be less time for awkward greetings and conversations. He didn’t want to make Mihashi feel uncomfortable, and that…confession…had certainly done that much.</p><p>                Abe pulled his hand away and stood up, shoving his hands in his pockets. “I’ll go, then. Just…try and forget I said anything, okay?” He pulled his cap down as he started to walk away. Dammit, he felt like crying. Eighteen and crying over unrequited love—he felt like such a fool. His cheeks burned and tears pricked at his eyes, though he tried to keep them back. He must have been out of his mind to confess like that. If he really thought about it, Mihashi had never given him any indication that he thought of Abe as more than a friend and teammate, and that should have been enough. But he was always like this: greedy for more, always trying to see how much he could get. He wondered if Mihashi would even want to stay in touch after this. It was definitely true that Mihashi had no poker face, so it would soon be obvious to the whole team that something had happened between the two of them, no matter how much Abe tried to act normally. And if it got out to the team, what then? What would they think of him? “<em>Shit</em>.” Abe wiped his eyes on the back of his hand. Three little words. That was all it took to ruin his friendship with Mihashi, to ruin his friendships with his other teammates. God, he was an idiot.</p><p>                “Takaya, Takaya! Taka-yaa! Taka—!” Mihashi collided with him, nearly knocking them both to the ground. Abe stared at him, eyes wide, for a moment, before he realized that he was clutching Mihashi’s arms. “Uh, I…you…um…you walk really fast, Takaya,” Mihashi finally said.</p><p>                Abe took another deep breath and blurted out, “I’m sorry I said that! I didn’t mean it at all!” He bowed his head, gripping Mihashi’s arms even more tightly. “Please forget I said it, so you don’t hate me and so we can still be friends!” He straightened up slowly and started to draw his hands back in, when Mihashi caught them.</p><p>                “F-forget it? Why?” Mihashi was squeezing him harder than ever.</p><p>                Abe furrowed his brow. “Because I embarrassed you and made you feel uncomfortable.” It was obvious Abe had been crying, which made him feel even worse. Could Mihashi tell?</p><p>                Mihashi swallowed. “I wasn’t uncomfortable,” he murmured, loosening his grip. “You just…surprised me. A little.” Now he was blushing too. “But…that doesn’t mean I…h-hated it. A-and I don’t hate you either,” he added quickly. Abe didn’t know how to respond, so he just stayed silent. “Um.” Mihashi scratched his cheek. “Should we…walk home? T-together?”</p><p>                Abe nodded. He stole glances at Mihashi as they walked, searching his face for answers to his endless questions. He wasn’t really sure what was going on. He had confessed, assumed he was rejected, and then Mihashi had chased him down only to tell him that he hadn’t minded. But what did that mean? He still hadn’t really answered the confession one way or the other. He kicked himself inwardly, annoyed at his own unvoiced waffling.</p><p>                “This is where we split,” Abe said, nodding at the street to their right. Mihashi looked nervous again, causing Abe to furrow his brow. “Hey,” he said. “Are we okay?” Mihashi blinked at him, so he continued, “I mean, at practice, it’s not going to be weird, is it?”</p><p>                Mihashi tapped his cheek. “Did you…want to tell everyone?”</p><p>                “What?! No!” Abe nearly shouted. “That’d be <em>way</em> too embarrassing! Are you outta your mind?!”</p><p>                “Um, th-then can’t we just act like we always do?” Mihashi said, tilting his head to one side.</p><p>                Abe frowned. “I guess I’m okay with that, but aren’t you going to feel uncomfortable after what I said?”</p><p>                Mihashi shifted his weight from one foot to the other in quick succession, a habit of his. “W-well, don’t you think it’s going to feel weirder to pretend that we’re n-not d-d-dating?”</p><p>                Abe froze. “Huh?!”</p><p>                “Huh?”</p><p>                Abe gaped at him, then grasped his hands. “You—you mean…you’re <em>accepting </em>it?”</p><p>                Mihashi’s face was redder than ever and he couldn’t meet Abe’s gaze. “Um…yeah?”</p><p>                “Yeah?” Abe repeated. “Really, yeah?” Mihashi nodded. “Um, okay.” He averted his eyes. He honestly hadn’t thought this far ahead; he wasn’t sure what to do now. “Ren.”</p><p>                “Takaya,” Mihashi said at the same time.</p><p>                Abe felt his cheeks flush again, and he shook his head. “You first.”</p><p>                Mihashi nodded. “Um, I just…wanted to say, those three little words…” he began, a wide smile spreading across his lips, “made me really, really happy!”</p><p>                Abe smiled—relieved, elated, surprised, grateful. “Ren, I’ll walk you home.” He reached out his hand and Mihashi took it. It felt warm.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Be gentle: it's my first Big Windup! fic and I haven't even finished both seasons of the anime. I had this in my head, though, and needed to get it out.</p><p>Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this please leave a comment and/or kudos! Also if you want to talk about anything, feel free to hit me up on <a href="https://franniebanana.tumblr.com/">tumblr!</a></p></blockquote></div></div>
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